The last three years have been exceptionally good for powered loudspeakers. This is good and bad. Good, because there are so many excellent choices now. For the most part these speakers all sound great, and they're generally better than most of the midfield monitors available ten or so years ago. Bad, because it's so damn hard to choose. I chose ten of the more well-known speakers to review. All of them are biamplified systems with between 90 and 250 watts of total system power. Eight of them use 8 inch woofers. All are ported systems: nine conventionally ported, one with a passive radiator. Most utilize liquid-cooled metal dome tweeters with computer-designed tweeter waveguides. All are approximately the same size and weight, give or take. Are you starting to see a pattern emerge? The real differences are differences in price – which varies widely – and details of quality and design. Most of these systems are really excellent. However, as I studied and listened to these systems, I was able to find and define clear preferences. Hopefully, my findings will coincide with yours....

Read More »

The KRK V8 is a biamplified system with an 8" woofer and 1" silk dome tweeter. Probably the most remarkable attribute of this system is its unusual gold-colored woven Kevlar woofer cone. The system is ported with a long, narrow port that extends across the bottom of the cabinet. The cabinet has the typical KRK look with it's stone-like Zolatone coating.

The Dynaudio BM6A is a biamplified nearfield with a 7" woofer and a 1" silk dome tweeter. The speaker is the only one of the bunch to offer a rear-mounted port. The system enjoys a reputation has having excellent transient response, and excellent imaging, resulting primarily from the unusual and rather amazing woofer – this little 7" woofer sports a huge 3" voice coil and a powerful magnet, giving it a powerful electromagnetic engine.

Roland has its own unique approach to the powered nearfield solution. The DS-90 is billed as a "digital monitor speaker". The system features 24 bit D/A converters that allow the user to feed the speakers directly from the digital output of a digital mixer.

The Behringer Truth B2031 is a biamplified monitor featuring an 8" polycarbonate woofer and a 1" ferrofluid-cooled titanium tweeter. A 150 watt amplifier drives the bass speaker while a 75 watt amplifier powers the tweeter. The tweeter is mounted into a computer-designed waveguide horn to improve imaging and time alignment.

Probably the most popular biamplified nearfield in use in major production facilities, the Genelec 1031A has seen widespread acceptance in broadcast, video post, 5.1 mixing, and music production and mastering facilities (in fact all of the local post facilities I've worked in use Genelec 1031As). The 1031A offers an 8" polypropylene woofer and 1" metal dome tweeter housed in a computer-designed waveguide. Power is provided by a pair of 120 watt amplifiers.

Yamaha MSP10

Our Score:

Imaging 8

C

Dynamic Performance 8 Frequency Response 7 High Volume 7 Sound Quality 7 Price / Performance 7 Overall 74 C List price Approx $1600/pr ...

Read More »

Conclusions First, the obvious: NS10, May You Rest In Peace. Now that Yamaha no longer makes the NS10, and now that so many new, great alternatives abound, I think we’ve finally seen the beginning of the end of that speaker. For me, that’s just fine. I like the NS10, but there are much better speakers out there. It’s time to move on.

Secondly, these are some great speakers. I was quite impressed with the overall quality present in the lineup. Computer-aided design has improved the quality of speakers more than any other aspect of recording technology. Probably half of these speakers were among the best sounding speakers I’ve ever heard (and as a recovering audiophile, I’ve heard quite a few esoteric speaks in the last 20 years).

Thirdly, can we just close the books on the concept of digital speakers? This is a bad idea whose time will never come. While we’re at it, let’s close the books on the idea of speaker modeling. Speaker cabinet modeling is a great effect when you’re recording an electric guitar, but it has no place in pro audio mixing.

...

Read More »

Tannoy 800A

Our Score:

Imaging 9

D+

Dynamic Performance 7 Frequency Response 7 High Volume 7 Sound Quality 7 Price / Performance 5.5 Overall 68 D+ List price Approx...

Read More »

Mackie HR824

Our Score:

Imaging 9.5

A+

Dynamic Performance 8 Frequency Response 10 High Volume 9.5 Sound Quality 9.5 Price / Performance 9 Overall 98 A+ List price Approx $1600/pr...

Read More »

JBL LSR28P

Our Score:

Imaging 9

C

Dynamic Performance 8 Frequency Response 8 High Volume 8 Sound Quality 8 Price / Performance 5.5 Overall 75 C List price Approx $2400/pr...

Read More »

Virtual Memory Windows 2000 does not allow disabling virtual memory. This is not a problem. I never recommend disabling VM, and Windows 2000 manages it much better than Win9X. You can choose the disk volume where the VM file will be placed. Usually you will want a single file. If you have several disks, do not put it in the same disk that you use for the audio files. The settings recommended by Windows 2000 are usually adequate, but some tweaking can prevent possible problems. When you are running Windows 2000, it will use the smallest swap file it needs. But if you do something that requires more RAM, Windows will enlarge the swap file to create memory headroom. If this happens when you're recording or playing back, you could experience real performance problems when Windows tries to enlarge the swap file. Therefore, set the minimum virtual memory size so that the swap file should never need to grow. 256 MB should be the smallest value you should set, but 384 to 512 MB are better. The maximum size...

Read More »

In the Field So we have had the C-28s at the Benedum Center for a couple of weeks. The Pittsburgh Opera is presenting Puccini's "Turandot". Through the good graces of house sound engineer Chris Evans we have used the C-28 in the orchestra pit. We started out putting one on the violins. We could have moved the microphone all over the orchestra, but the characteristics seemed rather obvious. Thus we decided to live with the C-28 in one spot in order to gather a better feel based upon a longer-term observation. Our reference microphone for comparison is the AKG 460, and we have nine of them scattered about the orchestra. Where we have replaced a 460 with the C-28 the results have been very interesting. We carefully matched the levels. There are no effects in play, and we are using a Midas XL-4 console. What I expected: I thought that the C-28 might be a tad noisier, with a little less low end. Since these microphones are an evolutionary progression from the C-28 through the 480, I anticipated that the earlier iterations would not stand up to our modern expectations....

Read More »

Am I in Heaven, or what! The Gibson Les Paul. Quite a guitar. From Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton through the Allman Brothers and Joe Walsh, to Slash and... er... Les Paul... some of the most famous guitar players in the world have used the Les Paul to obtain their signature sounds. The most famous and desirable of all the Les Pauls is the Les Paul Standard. Produced from 1958 to 1960, this was a cherry sunburst instrument with 'Patent Applied For' Humbucking pickups. The "Burst" is the Holy Grail of Les Paul instruments, fetching stunning amounts of money on the international collectors market. A fellow that I know brokered a deal to sell one for $125,000. Unbelievable. But my favorite Les Paul has always been the original, simple, elegant gold top Les Paul Model guitar. The year is 1952. Gibson has partnered with an innovative inventor/guitarist to create a new and different kind of guitar. After several prototypes and modifications, the original Les Paul Model is introduced to the public. The model proves to be very popular... in fact, it is probably the most popular signature guitar ever produced. Within two years there is a Junior model and a Custom model. Over time, there dozens of Les Paul models are released: Florentine, The Paul, The Les Paul, Deluxe, Special, Signature, Triumph, Artisan, Artist, and a host of others. Now, there are signature versions of this signature model guitar from artists like Jimmy Page, Zak Wylde, Peter Frampton, and others. ...

Read More »

Once again it's time to build a new "Roll Your Own" Computer for audio! A lot has changed since I wrote the last installment of "Roll Your Own". The price of both CPUs and memory modules has dropped dramatically. So much so that some of the cost cutting measures we used in the past RYO's aren't really necessary now. And, while in the past we staunchly supported Intel processors for providing the best performance, we now have an improved AMD Athlon chip which provides substantially better performance than any Intel processor, and at a bargain price. We will first describe the specification for the new Roll Your Own computer, and then we will provide a detailed, step-by-step instruction for how to build it.

Upgrade It! An outstanding feature of the RYO computers is the continuing ability for them to be upgraded. In fact, before I get into the new Roll Your Own recipe, I have some good news for those of you who are still running the previous versions. Yet again it has become both viable and financially...

Read More »

Outside of the I. C. Light Amphitheater, a multipurpose venue on the banks of the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, a small group of stagehands is walking in little circles. Right now. I just came from there, where I was walking in little circles in support of these stagehands. Carrying a sign. Shouting slogans. Giving the ‘Power To The People” fist in appreciation to all the passersby who demonstrated their support. I believe in and support organized labor. The only chance that the average worker has of getting a fair shake from management and owners is ensconced in the power that a united work force brings to the table. This situation is one that hopefully will resolve itself to be a “Case-In-Point”.

The Tattoo Crew We call the I. C. Light stagehands “The Tattoo Crew”. They are the same guys and gals who work many of the smaller venues in Pittsburgh, unloading trucks and humping ever-increasing amounts of band gear, PA, and lighting rigs. At this particular amphitheater they work under a huge...

Read More »

One of the most exciting events in audio this year is the eagerly anticipated release of SONAR, Cakewalk's replacement for the Pro Audio line of applications. Following in the footsteps of Pro Audio 9, SONAR is an integrated MIDI sequencer and audio multitrack recorder. However, SONAR has a number of new features and technologies which place it at the forefront of MIDI and audio technology. Let's face it: Pro Audio was approaching a turning point. After nine versions Pro Audio was saddled with a long feature list including many features that most people would consider esoteric (such as a programming language, CAL, and object-oriented studio controller builder, StudioWare) and some features which should be obsolete (such as destructive editing tools for lowering volume and normalizing) it was time to clean out the deadwood and make room for new growth. We will see, however, that more pruning could have been done. But first, let's review the new stuff. There's a lot to cover. Serious New Technology To me the most impressive aspect of SONAR is that it is one of the first multitrack audio applications to truly capitalize on new technology from Microsoft: Windows 2000 and the WDM driver model. Besides offering increased OS stability, Windows 2000 supports symmetric multiprocessing, allowing a properly-written application to spread its resource requirements across multiple processors. SONAR takes full advantage of SMP, running strongly with two processors....

Read More »

Probably the hottest product to hit the audio world lately has been the Studio Projects line of condenser microphones. Discussion forums on the Internet are loud with posts to the effect that "you can't tell the difference between a C1 and a U87!" and that the Studio Projects mics are the best mics ever made. Still others call the C1 and its siblings "more crappy-sounding Chinese trash." Clearly, people are pretty opinionated about this little mic. Studio Projects mics are built in China by Beijing 797 Audio. This is the same company which brought us mics by ADK, BPM, Marshall Electronics, Joemeek, Carvin, Nady, and others. Unlike those other distributors which seemed to hide the origins of the microphones, Studio Projects proudly proclaims the Chinese manufacturer, and in fact the 797 Audio logo is prominently displayed on the mic itself. ProRec has been quite vocal about the overall quality of the Chinese import mics. In fact we have openly encouraged our readers to avoid them at all costs and instead...

Read More »

You can't walk through a music store these days without having to step over an inexpensive large-diaphragm mic made in China. They're everywhere. A dozen companies have jumped into the market, reselling mics that are made in China but which sport deceptively cool German names like Audio Deutchkraft (based in Washington) and BPM Studiotechnik (at least based in Germany). Some of these companies are established entry-level audio companies looking to expand their product like - like Carvin and Nady - while others have used the availability of cheap, easy product to enter this new market - like Marshall Electronics, a.k.a. MXL, a cabling, video and surveillance company. The first time I heard one of these mics I was pretty sure that Chinese mics were no threat to established mics from companies like Shure, AKG, and Neumann. I figured these "exploitation mics" would run their course and peter out. After all, I reasoned, these mics...

Read More »

How did this project come together? In early September I was brainstorming ways to raise awareness for the studio in the community here. I was also trying to think of a way to raise some funds - and also create a small record label to release some local talent. I have a healthy obsession with soul music, especially the Muscle Shoals sound. I thought it would be interesting to do a tribute to the sound and get some bands in here to record various songs. I walked around the city putting up flyers and even had a small write-up in one of the weekly papers here. You not only got the project rolling, but you managed to make some connections that would not have occurred to many of us. I decided that I'd like to contact Jimmy Johnson to make sure he was okay with the idea, and also to see if he would like to write liner notes. I still planned on the release to be a small 500 run local affair. Jimmy loved the idea and was interested in coming up here to co-produce some of the tracks. After I pinched myself,...

Read More »